Chapter 4: The Location of Uruk!
Mesopotamia lay across a vast alluvial plain, stretched between the Tigris River and the Euphrates River.
The very meaning of the name "Mesopotamia" was simple and direct—the land between rivers.
This soil had once been the cradle of countless civilizations. And in this era, it was the age of the Uruk Dynasty, the dawn of Babylonia.
Unlike many other mythologies across the world, in Mesopotamia, the gods stood high above everything else, gazing down upon the earth from their lofty heights.
Humans were nothing more than servants created by the gods, meant to replace the lesser deities who held lower positions in the divine hierarchy.
From the moment of their creation, the gods had already decreed that humans were only allowed to live short, limited lives. To the gods of Mesopotamia, humanity was nothing more than a tool. Labor. A convenient resource.
And because of that, humans both hated and feared the gods, for the gods possessed the power to wipe out all of mankind with ease.
But history would not stop moving forward just because "gods" existed.
As time passed, humans slowly began to drift away from the will of the divine.
Not only that, but the rate at which humanity multiplied was terrifyingly fast—especially in this era, where population size was the standard by which a nation's prosperity was measured.
A powerful nation naturally required a large army. And to build that army, soldiers had to be selected from among the people. That made population an extremely important element.
The gods did not want to see such a sight.
So, in order to suppress the excessive growth of human power brought about by rising populations, the gods merged a human royal bloodline with a goddess, creating a so-called "Child of the Covenant"—a being meant to restrain humanity on their behalf.
That child was Gilgamesh.
A hero born between god and man, possessing "two-thirds divinity and one-third humanity," carrying an incredibly high level of godhood, and able to see the world from both the perspective of the gods and that of humans.
And to ensure that Gilgamesh would not fail in his duty to restrain mankind, the gods created a warrior during his childhood—a weapon meant to oppose him.
That warrior was Enkidu.
The "Chain of Heaven."
After Gilgamesh matured, Enkidu's purpose was to become the manifestation of the gods' wrath, to pull Gilgamesh back to their side.
But fate was a truly strange thing.
Enkidu did not bring Gilgamesh back to the gods.
Instead, it was Gilgamesh who brought Enkidu over to the side of humanity.
An irony that could not be escaped.
In the end, Enkidu was taken away by the gods themselves. And that single event completely awakened Gilgamesh's rage.
That was the beginning of the great rift between "humans" and "gods."
This was the world Akira now stood in.
Only, because Goetia—who sought to burn away the very foundation of humanity—had thrown a Holy Grail into this world, this place had become a Singularity, giving birth to a new branch of possibility.
"Hei, what are you even thinking about over there? Hurry up and let this goddess go, or I won't forgive you."
While Akira was lost in his thoughts, Ishtar, still bound by the Chain of Heaven, finally couldn't hold back anymore.
As a goddess—no, as a goddess of the sky—when had she ever been treated like this?
Hanging in midair while some guy spaced out and thought about who knew what.
And it was Ishtar's voice that snapped Akira out of his train of thought.
That alone made him frown slightly, and he turned to look at her.
"Eek—"
"W-What are you doing? You startled me."
Ishtar had genuinely been shocked by Akira's gaze.
"Goddess Ishtar," Akira said calmly, "tell me. Which direction is Uruk?"
"Hm? You don't know where Uruk is?"
"If I did, I wouldn't be asking you."
"Tch~ I'm not telling you."
Faced with Akira's question, Ishtar's divine temperament immediately surfaced. She shut her mouth and turned away.
After all, whether it was the arrogant Ishtar or the tsundere Ishtar famously known for her "leg appeal," both versions of her had equally terrible personalities. One suffered from a classic "goddess complex," while the other had a full-blown "spoiled noble lady syndrome."
"If you tell me the direction to Uruk, I'll let you go. And we'll consider what happened today settled."
"Hah? Settled? You must be dreaming! You bastard, you actually dared to tie up this goddess like a prisoner. I'll remember this grudge for the rest of my life. Sooner or later, I'll make you pay for it."
"In that case, Goddess Ishtar… should I just get rid of you right here and now?"
A low, ominous hum filled the air.
One by one, new Chains of Heaven emerged from ripples of golden light. Their tips were sharp and gleaming. Ishtar didn't doubt for a second that those chains could pierce her through and skewer her like fruit on a stick.
"Y-You—what are you trying to do? Don't do anything crazy!"
After being threatened like that, Ishtar immediately panicked. She didn't want to die.
She had only just been summoned by humans and returned to this world. There was no way she wanted to die here for no good reason.
"Goddess Ishtar," Akira said, "you were the one who said you'd take revenge on me and remember this for the rest of your life."
"I was just joking, okay? Joking! Don't you know what a joke is? Don't act so recklessly!"
With the Chains of Heaven hanging above her head like a sword of Damocles, cold sweat streamed down Ishtar's face.
Watching all of this, Akira smiled faintly to himself.
"Alright. I'll ask one last time. Which way is Uruk?"
"Th-That way…"
Ishtar pointed in a direction directly behind Akira. It wasn't that she had no pride—it was just that the situation forced her hand.
"That way, huh~"
Akira turned his gaze in the direction she indicated, and a small spark of excitement rose in his chest.
After inheriting everything from [Enkidu]—both his power and his memories—even though Akira was fully aware that he himself was not Enkidu, some of those emotions still carried over.
Like a lingering sense of attachment to Uruk.
And curiosity toward Gilgamesh.
Experiencing things from a first-person perspective naturally left an impact.
Just like anyone who had ever watched Absolute Demonic Front: Babylonia would end up deeply impressed by the "Wise King" Gilgamesh, erasing their bad impressions of the tyrant version of him and suddenly finding their fondness skyrocketing.
Akira was no different now.
He was extremely curious about the Uruk Dynasty.
And about the King of Heroes, Gilgamesh.
Akira waved his hand, and all the Chains of Heaven turned into streaks of golden light before fading away.
Ishtar was finally freed from her bindings and regained her freedom.
Even though she desperately wanted to land a lethal blow on the infuriating man in front of her, reality was cruel. After seeing the threat of the Chains of Heaven firsthand, she truly didn't dare to act recklessly.
"Then, Goddess Ishtar," Akira said, "until we meet again."
With those words, he shot up into the air, choosing to fly at full speed to continue his journey.
"Hmph. Like I'd ever want to see you again. I don't want to lay eyes on you for the rest of my life."
Muttering those words, the Goddess of Venus turned and flew back into the sky.
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